Jeanette Maynes' Bloghttp://jeanettemaynes.com.au
Livin' the Dream!Tue, 29 Nov 2016 09:53:44 +0000en-UShourly1What is a vision board?http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/18/what-is-a-vision-board/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/18/what-is-a-vision-board/#respondFri, 18 Nov 2016 06:34:36 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11774I just updated my vision board, well I actually use it as my positive, law of attraction screen saver. Each time I achieve a goal I replace it with another image; 3 new images today …. give it a try …. “A person is what they think about all day long!” “A vision board is […]

]]>I just updated my vision board, well I actually use it as my positive, law of attraction screen saver. Each time I achieve a goal I replace it with another image; 3 new images today …. give it a try ….

“A person is what they think about all day long!”

“A vision board is a tool used to help clarify, concentrate and maintain focus on a specific life goal. Literally, a vision board is any sort of board on which you display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your life.”

“As you think, so shall you become.” – Bruce Lee

“What is the Law of Attraction?
The law of attraction is the name given to the belief that “like attracts like” and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive or negative results. This belief is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from pure energy, and the belief that like energy attracts like energy.”

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/18/what-is-a-vision-board/feed/0PRESS RELEASE: MYSTERIOUS BACK FLOW DEVICE FEEhttp://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/14/press-release-mysterious-back-flow-device-fee/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/14/press-release-mysterious-back-flow-device-fee/#respondMon, 14 Nov 2016 09:28:00 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=1085616.Nov.2016 Well it’s now over 12 months and still no answer from CEO Lisa Desmond at the Fraser Coast Regional Council in relation to refunding my rates for their made up ‘backflow fee’. So far in the past five years Council has made $6,427.50 from the complex I live at for NOT monitoring or recording […]

Well it’s now over 12 months and still no answer from CEO Lisa Desmond at the Fraser Coast Regional Council in relation to refunding my rates for their made up ‘backflow fee’.
So far in the past five years Council has made $6,427.50 from the complex I live at for NOT monitoring or recording backflow testing. “Council has a responsibility under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002 to maintain a program for the registration and auditing of the annual maintenance and testing carried out” … yet does NOT do this but charges for it.

“The wheels have fallen off this bus…” – CEO Lisa Desmond

Quite the little cash cow this backflow fee. If you are now wondering why resorts and apartments are receiving requests to have their backflows tested in the past two weeks it is because I have busted the Council milking the system and charging for work not done. If you have been charged an annual backflow fee on your rates, and the work has not been completed by a plumber and recorded by Council, please contact them for a refund.

Section 38 of Standard Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2003 states
(1) A local government must implement and maintain a program for its local government area for the registration, maintenance and testing of testable backflow prevention devices installed in the area.
(2) The local government, or an entity authorised by the local government, must keep a register of the testable backflow prevention devices.

21 Jan 2016

• QUESTION: IS ANYONE ELSE ON THE FRASER COAST BEING CHARGED A $57.44 BACKFLOW FEE ON THEIR RATES FOR NON EXISTENT TESTING THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR PROTECTION AGAINST CONTAMINATION?

Upon reading this story today below in relation to legionella bacteria I am very alarmed at what is going on with our water!

FRASER COAST CHRONICLE here –
“ THE Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service’s routine water quality testing program has confirmed a positive test for legionella bacteria in hot water at the Hervey Bay Oral Health and Cancer Care Centre. Two isolated positive results have been confirmed at hot water outlets in hand basins, but cold water has been cleared by current testing and all sterile water used for clinical purposes including all dental procedures is treated and unaffected. “

Where I live we are charged a backflow fee in our rates which is an annual maintenance and testing carried out on testable backflow prevention devices installed in the Region which is an important role played by Council as it contributes to the protection against contamination of the town water supply.

The alarming part is Council does not do, monitor or record this testing yet charge me for it annually!!!

1. Council does not send the required notices / letters to advise of this required annual testing to my home / apartment complex2. A licensed Plumber (with Backflow Testing endorsement on their license) is not engaged to carry out the test at my home3. Our body corporate does not pay this non-existent licensed Plumber for any work4. This non-existent licensed Plumber does not give his report to Council to be filed, with which device, at which location, was tested on which date5. Council have said in writing they have NO list what so ever of back flow testing as per Councils responsibility under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002 to maintain a program for the registration and auditing of the annual maintenance and testing carried.Council email extract – “Council does not keep a list of the number of inspections carried out.”

• The below is an email I sent to Council / Lisa Desmond on Tuesday, 24 November 2015 4:07 PMand the Ombudsman plus Ministers that the CEO only acknowledged after repeated emails (15 in total) SEVEN WEEKS LATER on Thursday, 14 January 2016 3:56 PMSent: Thursday, 14 January 2016 3:56 PMSubject: Official Acknowledgement of Complaint – J Maynes – 2015-16 Fraser Coast Regional Council Annual Rates Notices

Dear Ms. Maynes
Thank you for your emails of 6 and 13 January, 2016, in relation to the above matter. In summary emails to internal Council staff, relating to this matter, commenced on 14 August, 2015, with the following being a chronological order of emails received and responses provided by Council Officers in relation to this matter:- ……………………….. Lisa Desmond (I will advise the response when I receive one)

• EMAIL SENT TO COUNCIL FROM previous ongoing rates communication ‘he’ is in reference to two separate staff members correspondence provided:Sent: Tuesday, 24 November 2015 4:07 PMSubject: RE: 2015-16 Fraser Coast Regional Council Annual Rates Notices

Thanks ……………………..,

……………….. emailed me this information:

All Backflow Devices have to be tested. All test reports are to be submitted to Council. No Devices are tested by Council. Council keeps a Backflow Device Test Register. The Backflow Device Fee issued by Council maintains the register and pays for any inspections required due to complaints.

When did this charging for this Backflow Device commence within our rates and what Minutes was it approved in?

Why would he say there is a register?

How can you say that “it appears that the backflow devices at ……………. are overdue to be tested”? How would you know this, when you state you do “not have a full list of the testing history for the backflow devices on your property” and then further state that you actually indeed have NO list what so ever – ” Council does not keep a list of the number of inspections carried out.” ????

Why would Council not record inspections and complaints made? This would be a mandatory incident report under the LGA 2009 and Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002?

You mention “Council has a responsibility under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002 to maintain a program for the registration and auditing of the annual maintenance and testing carried”Why would you not have a list of inspections for our premises if they are annual and a record of the above auditing for the registration as per your statement being that this is a Council requirement – “they are required to be tested annually”?

Our receptionist has confirmed the “premises”(address removed) has never been contacted in relation to this by Council.

As the Chairman of the “premises” I can confirm the body corporate has never been contacted in relation to this testing.

This is fraudulent to charge our “premises” per annum for work that;
– has NOT been carried out
– has not been recorded or documented in any form
– that Council has no evidence of

Due to there being NO record of any backflow testing inspections I demand the owners of our “premises”be refunded the $57.44 per annum you are charging for work not done or recorded since the commencement of this Backflow Device fee.That is $1,723.20 per annum Council has stolen from our 30 owners.

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/14/press-release-mysterious-back-flow-device-fee/feed/0Fraser Coast Regional Council – State Intervention under the Local Government Act 2009http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/04/fraser-coast-regional-council-state-intervention-local-government-act-2009/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/04/fraser-coast-regional-council-state-intervention-local-government-act-2009/#respondFri, 04 Nov 2016 00:37:09 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11741DOWNLOAD THE FRASER COAST REGIONAL COUNCIL REPORT IN FULL HERE! “THE relationship between the CEO Lisa Desmond and mayor Chris Loft was the “single biggest issue the council continues to face,” according to the findings in the advisor Mr Stephen Johnston’s report…. The report said the Local Government Department had received more than 30 complaints […]

“THE relationship between the CEO Lisa Desmond and mayor Chris Loft was the “single biggest issue the council continues to face,” according to the findings in the advisor Mr Stephen Johnston’s report….

The report said the Local Government Department had received more than 30 complaints about Fraser Coast councillors between December 2015 and June 2016.
“Should the situation deteriorate to the point where further intervention is required under the Local Government Act 2009, either in the form of removal of a councillor or councillors, or the dissolution of the council, my message to the Fraser Coast Council is simple: this government will take action,” Jackie Trad said.

THE advisor’s meetings with council staff have uncovered a work environment described as ‘toxic’ and possessing low morale. The advisor indicated “severe tensions” present within the executive management team and further cultural issues within the general staff. The culture was described as one of “control, favouritism, lack of trust, a fear of reprisal, low morale and a toxic work environment.”
[Info via the Chronicle]

“There is reasonable prospect of the council working well with a new CEO and after a proper internal review. Only the council and in particular the mayor, have the power AND DUTY to deal with the CEO”.

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/11/04/fraser-coast-regional-council-state-intervention-local-government-act-2009/feed/0‘Fraser Coast Rail Trail’http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/10/16/fraser-coast-rail-trail/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/10/16/fraser-coast-rail-trail/#respondSun, 16 Oct 2016 05:11:27 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11715What an adventurous morning riding a loop of Hervey Bay via the ‘Fraser Coast Rail Trail’. Thanks to my good friend Svetlana (who is raising money for a cause here ) for an awesome 36.5 km bike ride. What a great start to the day! We were on bike paths most the way and left from Sunshine Acres […]

]]>What an adventurous morning riding a loop of Hervey Bay via the ‘Fraser Coast Rail Trail’. Thanks to my good friend Svetlana (who is raising money for a cause here ) for an awesome 36.5 km bike ride. What a great start to the day! We were on bike paths most the way and left from Sunshine Acres to the pier return following the old Hervey Bay / Urangan railway line and beachfront bike path. We rode through cane fields, a dirt path at the Old Chapel Road section, through the centre of town, to the pier, along the foreshore and through the wooden boardwalk.

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/10/16/fraser-coast-rail-trail/feed/0Sunshine Coast Marathon #2 Review!http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/08/28/sunshine-coast-marathon-2/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/08/28/sunshine-coast-marathon-2/#commentsSun, 28 Aug 2016 00:55:14 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11628On the 30th of August 2015 I ran the full 42.2km Sunshine Coast Marathon with my mate Kym in 05:12:43 mins. Kym and I are friends from high school and ran our first 10km together in 2009 at the Gold Coast Marathon. This year on Sunday 21st of August we decided we would run together and try […]

This year on Sunday 21st of August we decided we would run together and try to crack 5hrs by trying the Jeff Galloway run / walk method with 3:1 splits (run 3 min: walk 1 min).
We started out excited after 4hrs sleep but our race didn’t exactly go to plan; at 1.3km in Kym told me she was in pain with a recent knee injury and would need to walk and I should go ahead! OMG!
I forged ahead and ran the first 9km then decided to start my splits. Feeling pretty good I decided to do longer 5:1 splits for the next 23km. At 32km for the last 10km I decided to change back to 3 min run : 30 second walk splits and ran the last 1.5km to cross the line via the red carpet!
Passing a friend of ours during the run she told me Kym was still struggling and was going to drop out at the half way mark 21km. Oh No I thought, knowing Kym would feel disappointed and must be in alot of pain! A few km later I hear a, “Hey, I’ve come good, I’m going to finish the race!” from Kym bounding towards me for a high five mid race with a massive smile! I was so happy for her, she did a negative split, running the last 21km NON STOP, heaps quicker and still managed a very good time 5:24 mins! I was so impressed with her mind work and determination to turn that race around! (Kym’s review below)
I had a good run, stayed focused on my splits, I didn’t hit a wall at any stage, and found I had heaps more energy than last year; at 38km another runner said I looked like I just started!
Crossing the line and checking my watch I realised I may have cracked the 5hr mark and achieved my goal and a PB!Official time was 4:59:20, I just did it by 40 seconds!
I’m very happy to have found a system that works for me for marathons and to have completed another fun adventure with my mate Kym …… A MASSIVE Thanks to the Sunshine Coast Marathon organisers and volunteers, such a fun, professional and well run event!
My facebook here!Want to be fit, happy & healthy?
Learn how with my 4 Week Program today – here!

I have NEVER cried in a run but I cried in this one. At the 1km I knew my knee wasn’t good. I stopped and took painkillers at the first water station.

I tried to stick to my race plan of 3 min run, 1 min walk. It hurt too much to run for 3 mins! At 6km I just couldn’t help myself and started crying. It was so painful and I was distraught at the thought of pulling out. I didn’t want a DNF. A lovely lady Amanda helped me through this. She told me to walk with her and together we would do it. Her aim was to be inside 6 hours.

So I walked and jogged and walked and shuffled my way through the next 9km. Amanda was walking too fast for me to keep up. I’d caught my friend Rach and stayed with her for a while. I told her to leave me as I was in too much pain. I’d taken more pain killers that started to kick in at around 19km. I was going to pull out but I’d managed to catch up with Rach and Reece who managed to inspire me to continue.

2 hours 50 mins of shear hell. I was only halfway

I then saw my buddy Cassie, who is an Ultra Marathoner. Her words of wisdom are ones I tell myself. ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’ I pushed on, no more tears! The pain was easing.

My great Bushido Brother Roy jumped in to run with me and he lifted my spirits. Seeing other running buddies out there was awesome too.

In a nutshell, the second 21k was so much better. I was strong!
2 hours 34……. A negative split!!!!
Total marathon time was 5:24. Not bad considering my previous injury.
(Coach Kymba Facebook here!)

As per usual I also had to get my Nature fix whilst in the Sunshine Coast Hinterlands, so for the three days prior to the marathon I hiked Mary Cairncross, Linda Garrett Circuit, Mapleton Falls and Buderim Falls!

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/08/28/sunshine-coast-marathon-2/feed/1River Heads to Beaver Rock Paddockhttp://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/07/01/river-heads-beaver-rock-paddock/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/07/01/river-heads-beaver-rock-paddock/#respondFri, 01 Jul 2016 05:55:57 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11576Massive 14.5km hike through mud today! A big thanks to Lindsay ‘Butch’ Titmarsh from Tandora for leading us thorough this amazing land, showing us the first leg of his amazing 81 km Double-Marathon Mud, Run for the Mary River and extending his awesome local knowledge! We made it from River Heads to Beaver Rock Paddock 12.5km on […]

A big thanks to Lindsay ‘Butch’ Titmarsh from Tandora for leading us thorough this amazing land, showing us the first leg of his amazing 81 km Double-Marathon Mud, Run for the Mary River and extending his awesome local knowledge!
We made it from River Heads to Beaver Rock Paddock 12.5km on foot via German Creek and were picked up at Turkey Creek Shed.
It was roughly six hours to get to Beaver Rock Paddock from River Heads.
Only 20 people have done this hike with Lindsay.
We were following the wild pig, fox & kangaroo tracks through the mangroves (No crocs thank god).
I ripped holes in my pants and had to throw away my boots as the sole came off one, we were in mud up to our knees!What an amazing experience!
2,380 Calories ✔

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/07/01/river-heads-beaver-rock-paddock/feed/0Mangrove eco-tours @ ‘Tandora Walkabout Tours’http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/06/25/mangrove-tours-tandora/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/06/25/mangrove-tours-tandora/#respondSat, 25 Jun 2016 01:34:19 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11507Today I had an awesome Mangrove eco-tour of ‘Tandora’ owned by the legendary and very knowledgeable Lindsay Titmarsh. This was the second tour to date and I did the first half of the tour this time. We had a lovely group of people and there was so much to learn. Some of the trees were between […]

]]>Today I had an awesome Mangrove eco-tour of ‘Tandora’ owned by the legendary and very knowledgeable Lindsay Titmarsh.
This was the second tour to date and I did the first half of the tour this time.
We had a lovely group of people and there was so much to learn. Some of the trees were between 200 to 900 years old and their different root systems were amazing!
There was at least 10 different species of mangroves (9 near us and one other further down), pink native berries, mangrove fruits, flowers & seeds and 25 species of crabs. The oxygen bubbles in the mud were interesting, some of the mangroves species excrete salt from their system via the back of their leaves and we were able to taste this; mistletoe and old mans beard also decorated the leaves.
It was the best stroll in the mud I’ve had in a long time …

“Tandora is an 11,000 acre grazing property situated near the mouth of the Mary River on the ecologically diverse Fraser Coast of Queensland, Australia. For over 100 years, this vast estate has been owned and operated by the Titmarsh family. Lindsay Titmarsh, the current manager, is a well known local identity, naturalist, photographer and author.”

]]>http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/06/25/mangrove-tours-tandora/feed/0Kingfisher Bay to Eurong 50km overnight hikehttp://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/05/27/kingfisher-bay-eurong-50km-overnight/
http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/2016/05/27/kingfisher-bay-eurong-50km-overnight/#respondFri, 27 May 2016 04:43:25 +0000http://jeanettemaynes.com.au/?p=11398I’ve just returned from another Awesome 50km hike on Fraser Island being Kingfisher Bay Resort to Eurong Resort return overnight stay. The white ghost gums near Central Station are so Amazing just in the middle of no where! I enjoyed our buffet dinner at Eurong Beach Resort in my classy five finger under grip / […]

Distance: 3.6 km return
Time: Allow 4 hours walking time
Section 1: Start to rest area
Distance: 800 m one way
Time: Allow 1 hr return
Details: Start your walk near the picnic area and ensure you remain on the track at all times. This walk weaves you through thick vine forest where you can see the tracks from wallabies, bandicoots and brush-turkeys that have criss-crossed the track to venture through the forest. You arrive at a comfortable seat where you can take a break, surrounded by the peaceful sounds of the mountain.
This walk is rated as moderate to strenuous. Turn back at this point if you are having any difficulty. The track from here to the summit is a continuous, steep climb.

Woowoonga is about 90 minutes’ drive from Maryborough, 60 minutes’ drive from Bundaberg and 14 km north of Biggenden. Turn off the Childers Road into Giles Road 6.5 km north of Biggenden. Drive 2.5 km then turn left into Woowoonga Hall Road. Continue for 2 km then turn right into Mount Woowoonga Road and continue 3 km to the picnic area.